Biffinger Research Group
Overview
My research interests span the fields of Bioorganic chemistry, Bioinorganic chemistry, and Sustainability. Prior to my appointment to UD, I was a Federal Research Chemist in the Bioenergy and Biofabrication Section at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC for almost a decade. My research at UD focuses on fundamental chemical interactions between abiotic and biotic interfaces using electrochemically active bacteria or hydrolytic fungi. These fundamental biochemical interactions will help inform the creation of novel sustainable materials and chemical pathways for both domestic and defense applications.
Courses
CHM123/124 General Chemistry
CHM 201 Quantitative Analysis
CHM 313 Organic Chemistry I
CHM 317 Spectroscopic Identification of Organic Compounds
CHM 555 Modern Trends in Chemistry (Biocatalysis: Fundamentals and Application)
CHM 555 -61 Modern Trends in Chemistry (Sustainability and Chemistry)
Research Interests
Microbial Degradation of Polymeric Materials (Organic Chemistry, Biotechnology, and Ecological Biochemistry)
Determining the mechanisms used during the biodegradation of polyurethane-based coatings by Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
Identifying and quantifying key steps in the polymer biodegradation process to create long duration anti-fouling or fouling release coatings
Synthesis of pH responsive polyurethane blocks in block co-polymer coatings
Biomining for Precious Metals Ions from Waste Streams (Bioinorganic Chemistry)
Fundamental and applied studies of bacterial and extremophile extracellular electron transfer mechanisms
Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic responses to abiotic-biotic interface
Determination of differential metal reduction pathways in electrochemically active anaerobic bacteria to create surface associated metal nanoparticles
Removal of Pt(IV), Pd(II), and Au(I) in the presence of non-precious metals in salt water
Dark Carbonate Fixation Mechanisms in Salt Water (Environmental Chemistry and Ecological Biochemistry)
Selective environmental pressure to stimulate the growth of carbonate fixing organisms from sediment collected from the deep marine biosphere
Comparisons of carbonate and nitrogen uptake rates and product formation
Isolation and identification of novel carbon fixation pathways from strict anaerobic bacteria using PCR techniques and whole genome sequencing
Luminescent Whole Cell Reporters for Toxic Metals in the Environment on Solid Surfaces (Bioinorganic and Environmental Chemistry)
Bacterial responses to toxic metals as biofilms and as planktonic cultures
Connecting electrochemical potentials of growth medias to microbial luminescent responses
Demonstration of whole-cell bioreporters for the sensing of toxic metals in salt water sources